A friend just posted this to her Facebook page and I feel a real affinity for it:

Life is a series of natural and spontaneous changes.
Don’t resist them — that only creates sorrow. . . Let things flow
naturally forward in whatever way they like.
— Lao-tzu

—
How can we direct our river? Not well. We can’t direct a river, but we can navigate it using it’s inherent power to guide ourselves. We can avoid dangers we see, learn from experience to avoid shallows and submerged limbs and rocks.
Another thought… Who can change the direction of their river? Not many people can, and those that can, do so with much difficulty and have to use earth-moving equipment. The collateral damage includes flooded homes and fields, loss of income, loss of life in some cases, continued flooding in future years as the river tries to run it’s old course.
And this brings up some interesting thoughts about the hazards of building on the flood plains of life and mind…